Photo by Andrea WisneskiFrom left, Tom, Jim and Steve Wisneski work on a patio furniture set, which was donated to the Child Abuse Council of Muskegon, which will offer the furniture in a raffle to raise funds.The Wisneski family crafted a unique way to bring the family together, while helping out a local service organization at the same time.

In November, the Muskegon family organized a project to build a six-piece patio furniture set to donate to the Child Abuse Council of Muskegon County.

The council will raffle off the patio furniture to benefit the council during its first annual Tee - Up for Kids golf outing at 12:30 p.m. May 27 at the Muskegon Country Club, said Ellen Berends, the council’s Special Events coordinator.

Photo by Andrea WisneskiJim Wisneski, top, and Tom Wisneski work on the patio furniture project. The furniture is a donation and family effort that Steve Wisneski, the son of Tom Wisneski and the late Wynne Ann Wisneski, said would have made his mother proud.

He said his parents taught their six children — two boys and four girls — the importance of family, giving and doing their best.

“This is a huge contribution from the (Wisneski) family to the council,” Berends wrote in an e-mail to The Chronicle. “After losing mom/grandma in the fall, the family felt the holidays weren’t the same. After much thought they decided instead of a traditional holiday gift-giving party, they would give back to the community through a family project. Born was the ‘Wisneski Flippin Sweet Project’ for the Child Abuse Council of Muskegon County.”

“We did a lot of deliberating over worthwhile organizations,” said Ann Wisneski, a retired newspaper advertisement representative.

“We just put a whole lot of work and love into making this stuff,” said Steve Wisneski, an insurance agent and a Muskegon city commissioner, about the project. He said the family wanted to build a product that would be unique, safe and durable.

The furniture set consist of a long picnic table, a smaller version for children and two folding Adirondack chairs, with matching footrests.

The furniture was constructed from a blueprint then customized and childproofed by the work crew under the supervision of Steve’s brother, Jim Wisneski, who is a draftsman and engineer.

And while it was no picnic at times overcoming the challenges that comes with such a project, the work sessions soon became a favorite family gathering for the Wisneski clan with sibling Carol Wisneski, a surgical coordinator, cooking tasty meals for the group.

“There were lots of phone calling like OK, we got the sanding, now you can do the painting,’ that kind of stuff, back and forth, but we did it,” Ann Wisneski said with a laugh. “We managed it.”

“We’ve all been working hard, and more than anything, I think, we’ve really had an opportunity to get to know each other all over again,” niece Andrea Wisneski wrote in an e-mail to The Chronicle. “It is amazing how one common goal can bring us all so close together. It gives us an excuse just to hang out together, and enjoy each others’ company.”

Steve Wisneski’s home basement workshop was the project’s work site, where family members assembled at least twice a week beginning in February to work on the furniture.

The volunteer laborers ranged in age from age 4 to 85, including Tom Wisneski, the family’s patriarch who is a retired city of Muskegon electrician.

“We have four generations who are working on it,” Steve Wisneski. “We had everybody doing something, helping with sanding, drilling, cutting, painting. One of my sisters (professional seamstress Kathy Wisneski) is making a custom tablecloth and seat cushions.”

Other family members contributed to the project, including sibling Gail (Wisneski) Troutman, a graphic artist in Greenbackville, Va., who designed a logo for the project, and nieces Andrea Wisneski and Melanie Wisneski, who managed a Facebook page about the project.

“We’ve put our whole soul into it,” said Ann Wisneski, who is working on a scrapbook to chronicle the project that will be given to the raffle winner.

The family also laughed a lot during their work sessions.

“There’s a lot of fun that went on and lots of joking,” Steve Wisneski said. “Everybody was exchanging ideas, just a real great friendship. Some of us had gone our own separate ways, this pulled us back together.”

Photo by Ellen BerendsFrom Left: Kathy Wisneski, Ann McMillan, Steve Wisneski, Carol Wisneski, Andrea Wisneski, Dennison Wisneski, Tom Wisneski and Jim Wisneski on the finished patio furniture they designed and built, including the chair cushions and tablecloths.The result of their labor was a wood patio furniture set built with pegs, screws and bolts — no nails — and liquid nail glue. It took numerous hours of sanding, sealing and painting to get the job done.

“My parents raised us all with skills,” said Kathy Wisneski. “They saw what we were good at and encouraged it. I’m a seamstress, that’s what I do for a living. … The boys have more (carpentry) tools than Home Depot. There’s nothing they can’t build or construct and they’ve shown us how to use them, too.”

The family tools and skills enabled the group to build an outdoor furniture set that they hope will help the council raised money to support the nonprofit service organization.

Family members estimate that they spent about $1,000 in material to build the set and are already considering their next project to donate to a local nonprofit organization after the Wisneski clan pools their Christmas spending money and resources together this year.

“It could be a playhouse for kids or a particular need in the community, something along these lines,” Steve Wisneski said.

For more information about the project, go to the Wisneski Flippin Sweet Project on Facebook.

For more information about The Child Abuse Council of Muskegon County’s golf outing and raffle that are open to the public, contact Vicki Price, the council’s office manager, at 231-728-6410.

GOOD DEEDS

When it comes to finding a cure for juvenile diabetes, Norton Shores bicyclists Melanie Williamson and Amy Fisher are ready to put their feet to the pedal to help the cause.

In October, the two women will participate in their fourth Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Ride for a Cure, a 105-mile one-day bicycle ride through Death Valley, Calif. To raise funds to participate in the ride and to raise awareness and funds for the foundation, Williamson and Fisher have planned local fundraisers, including their annual JDRF Community Garage Sale from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Maranatha Bible and Missionary Conference at 4759 Lake Harbor. They also are accepting donations for the sale, “big or small,” Fisher wrote in an e-mail to The Chronicle.

Williamson and Fisher, who are members of the Grand Rapids-based JDRF West Michigan Great Lakes Chapter that is based in Grand Rapids, will be traveling with other chapter members to California to join the ride. To donate to Fisher and Williamson’s fundraising efforts, contact Fisher at 231-329-5369 or e-mail her at fishergarden@verizon.net.